A Small Business with a BIG Idea
Most if not all products are developed to solve a problem. This problem just so happens to be a very common problem for both men and women. So, what is this problem? A very sore lower back that made it difficult to enjoy my favorite warm weather activity, mountain biking. So, what was my solution to that problem..........the sportBELT Back Support Belt.

History
In 1997 my lower back pain was getting so bad I was concerned that I would have to give up mountain biking. So, I started my search to try and find a back support belt that would provide full freedom of movement and not affect my breathing while biking. Well, after many months of searching there was nothing to be found. Since I did not want to quit riding I decided to develop one myself and so the process began.

In my search for a back support belt I found a company called Kevco/Stubbs racing that manufactured a very high quality Kidney Belt for Motocross. I liked the construction and quality, so thought I would contact them to see if they would be interested in a redesign. Well, it just so happened that they were more than willing to help. Kevco/Stubbs is owned by Frank Stubbs Company and they manufacture all different types of orthopedic support devices. Now, with a manufacturer who has the ability to cut and sew up any style of support device, we started the process of designing the perfect back support belt.

First I told them what I needed and then to get a jump start they sent me a box of different types of devices to test that they already manufacture. One of these devices, an upper back support belt for women worked quite well. It was very narrow in the front and had a gradual taper to the back. The belt was not as wide as a kidney belt and because of the smaller size, the belt actually stayed in place while riding and it did not affect my breathing. It still had some problems though, but we had a great place to start. Well, in the next eight months we worked those problems out and by the end of 1997 had a product that was much more refined.

The next step was to find some people to test the sportBELT. Who better than your friends. I passed out a bunch of sportBELTs for them to use for work and play. Everyone was an avid athlete and the variety of day jobs were from desk jockeys to construction. What a great testing ground. It did not take long for everyone to take a liking to the sportBELT. The word got out quickly among friends and family and that was proof that the sportBELT worked and worked very well.

What next? Well in 1998 I sent the sportBELT to many magazines for testing. Two major sports magazines, Mountain Bike Action and Skiing tested and wrote great editorials about the sportBELT. Too bad they messed up the company name in both articles and misprinted our phone number in one. Oh well.

1998 was also the year of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Here in Minnesota we had a local skier on the US Alpine team who was in the news because she was having back problems. A light bulb went off in my little bald head and I got on the phone to the US Ski Team. The Director of Athlete Preparation in the Sport Science Department was interested and agreed to test the sportBELT. I sent them some belts to use in Nagano and sat back to watch the Winter Olympics.

Shortly after the Winter Olympics I received an e-mail from the US Ski Team Director of Athlete Preparation. One skier, who had a very bad back, used the sportBELT in Nagano. He stated that the sportBELT worked quite well, since he got 9th in downhill and 13th in SuperG. Both finishes were better than his world rankings at the time. The next step was to supply enough belts to the team so that they could continue using them in competition.

Future Goals
Some day, it would be great to make some money off the sportBELT. But, as in all new business ventures it takes a while. So, for now I have to keep my day job and hope that some day I will sell enough sportBELTs to be self employed. So, please buy a sportBELT Back Support Belt and help a small business owner today.



Contact us for more info